Samarbeta have announced their 11th music residency with the international collaborative tour de force of Manchester based Graham Massey (808 State) and Umut Caglar (Konstrukt).

During their 10 day residency in the Islington Mill event space, the duo will work together for only the second time ever following their brief one day collaboration back in 2015 at Islington Mill when they worked with local saxophonist David McLean which resulted in a ‘Live at Islington Mill’ tape release on Austin Texas label (Astral Spirits).

Massey & Caglar have both come from a techno DJ background as their entry to the music scene and have since moved into the avant garde. Caglar states 808 State as one of his favourite bands growing up. The result of the residency will be both a duet album written and recorded within the 10 days along with a one off opportunity to see the duo perform live on the final night, Friday 1st September. The record and performance aims to become a unique blend which will use their past experience as techno artists to build something new as current avant garde musicians; a mash of past and present, techno and jazz, dj and producer and Istanbul vs Manchester.

About the Musicians

Umut Çağlar, is a musician from Istanbul, Turkey, interested in improvised music in all the formats. Plays guitar, keyboards, woodwinds, percussion. He has been playing free music since a very early age and performed as a DJ for 10 years. He founded the free music band konstrukt to play improvised music in 2008, who have eleased several albums, recorded and performed with Peter Brötzmann, Marshall Allen ( Sun Ra Arkestra) and Evan Parker. Umut Çağlar promotes performances and recordings moving around from total noise to total improv concerts.

Manchester born Graham Massey was a member of post punk group Biting Tongues once signed to Factory Records. In 1988 he was a founding member of the seminal UK Techno group 808 State, Their self released debut album ‘Newbuild’ was a game changer for UK electronica. This began a run of adventurous releases many of which crashed not only dance floors world-wide but the singles and album charts. A prolific remixer and producing career ran in parallel with 808 States now 30 year continuum. This included writing Army Of Me with Bjork. Massey has numerous side projects such as a 28 piece big band “Toolshed “, an all girl organ quartet ‘The Sisters Of Transistors”, a Sun Ra tribute band “The Part Time Heliocentric Cosmo Drama After School Club” and a solo electronica act as Massonix.

Massey has just composed and performed an hour long live soundtrack for Jeremy Dellers’ “What Is A City But The People” which opened 2017’s Manchester International Festival in Piccadilly Gardens.